Transforming the Mind into a Wishing Tree

Sadhguru says, the most miraculous thing in this existence in terms of instruments, is not the computer, car or spacecraft, but the human mind.

Article

Jul 17, 2013

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Sadhguru: The most miraculous thing in this existence in terms of instruments, is not the computer, car or spacecraft, but the human mind. It is the most miraculous thing if only you could use it consciously.

Your mind can be in five different states. It can be inert. That means it is not activated at all, it is in a rudimentary state. Inert minds are not a problem. Someone who is very simple-minded and whose intellect is still not effervescent has no trouble. He eats well, he sleeps well. It is only the people who think who have trouble sleeping. Simple-minded people perform all the activities of the body far better than the so-called intellectual people because it needs some intelligence to cause disturbance and chaos. But an inert mind is closer to animal nature than the possibility of what it means to be human.

The moment you pump some energy into an inert mind, it becomes active, but it could be scattered. If you energize the mind further, the mind comes to a place where the mind is not so scattered, but it is oscillating – one day it is this way, another day that way. This is a huge improvement over being scattered moment to moment. If you energize it further, it slowly becomes one-pointed – that is far better. But the most important thing is the mind should become a conscious process.

The reason why success comes so easy and naturally for one person and is a struggle for another is because one person thinks the way he wants to think and another person thinks against himself.

Monkey of the Mind

There is a beautiful story in the yogic lore. A man went for a walk and accidentally walked into paradise. After the long walk he felt a little tired and thought, “I wish I could rest somewhere.” He saw a beautiful tree beneath which was wonderful, soft grass. So he went and slept on the grass. After a few hours, he woke up well-rested. Then he thought, “Oh! I am hungry. I wish I had something to eat.” He thought of all the nice things he wanted to eat and all of them just appeared in front of him. After he had the sumptuous food, the man thought, “Oh! I wish I had something to drink.” He thought of all the drinks he wanted and all of them appeared in front of him.

In yoga, the human mind is referred to as markata, or monkey, because of its nature. The word “monkey” has also become synonymous with imitation. If you say you are monkeying someone, it means you are imitating someone – this is the full-time job of your mind. So, an un-established mind is referred to as a monkey.

When this “monkey” became active in the man who went to paradise, he thought, “What the hell is happening here? I asked for food, food came. I asked for drink, drink came. Maybe there are ghosts around.” He looked and there were ghosts. The moment he saw them he got terrified and said, “Oh there are ghosts around here, maybe they will torture me.” And the ghosts started torturing him, and he started screaming and yelling in pain. He said, “Oh these ghosts are torturing me, they are going to kill me.” And he died.

The problem was, he was sitting under a wishing tree or a Kalpavriksha. Whatever he asked for became a reality. A well-established human mind is referred to as a “Kalpavriksha.” In this mind, whatever you ask for becomes a reality. In life, you are also constantly sitting under a Kalpavriksha, so you need to develop the mind to a point where it becomes a Kalpavriksha, not a source of madness.

Editor’s Note: The "Chit Shakti" meditations, a rare offering from Sadhguru, enables each one of us to become our own alchemist, that empowers us to transform long cherished desires into reality. There are four different Chit Shakti meditations which focus on health, love, peace and success. These meditations are available for free on the Sadhguru App. Download the Sadhguru App now.